“Guys!” I threw myself into their arms, needing their nearness and comfort more than ever. They wrapped their arms around me and pulled me closer.
“Hey, Bree. We’re here now.”
I broke into tears, burying my head into Caleb’s shoulder. I didn’t want them to witness me at my worst, but at the same time I didn’t want them to go. Their presence felt soothing, and it helped me get over the mess that was my life.
“I’m so sorry. I just... I just couldn’t hold it in anymore.”
“It’s okay, baby. Cry as much as you want. We’re here to help you.”
I let them inside and sat down on my bed.
“What happened?” Trent asked.
I stared at my hands on my lap as I tried to figure out what to tell them. “My grandmother fell, but thankfully she didn’t break anything. They have to keep monitoring her, though, so she needs to go to another facility.”
“Bree, we’re so sorry to hear that.” Trent caught my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “It will be okay.”
“I’m not sure about that, Trent.” Another tear escaped and slid down my face. “We don’t have enough money. While I took some time away from you I was desperately looking for a job, even though I want to go to college, but now I’m forced to accept any job because that’s the only way to deal with this situation...”
“It’s not the only way,” Caleb told me, looking at me with serious eyes. “We can help you cover the costs.”
“What?”
“Yes. Think about it,” Trent added. “It’s not a big deal for us, but for you it would mean a lot.”
“No. You can’t be serious. You can’t offer to help me with money just like that.”
“Why not?”
“Why not?” I looked at them shell shocked.
“Yeah, why not? As I said, it’s not a big deal. Besides, we can’t just stand aside and do nothing to help you. You’re struggling, Bree, and we can’t be happy when you aren’t, you know?”
Oh God. I began crying again, experiencing some tightening feeling in my chest that was spreading through me fast. I couldn’t believe how good there were to me.
“Yes. We want to help you as much as we can. We care about you, and we don’t want you to go through this alone.”
“And not only that. You haven’t taken us up on our offer of coming to stay either. There you could be rent free while you go take classes and figure out stuff with your grandmother.”
“You guys, this is too much! I can’t accept this kind of offer.”
“But you can,” Trent said.
“And you will,” Caleb added.
“Are you both absolutely sure?”
“As Caleb said, we care about you. We care about you a lot, and we don’t want to be separated from you anymore. You make us so happy.”
He wiped off my tears. They were so kind and supportive, and I had no words to express how I felt about them. Still, there was that suffocating sense of guilt that was getting stronger. I sobbed loudly, pressing myself against Trent as I cried into his shirt.
“But you don’t know everything about me!” My wails were loud, showing the despair that filled my being at the thought of all those people displaced because of me.
Caleb’s eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean?”
I had to tell them. I couldn’t keep it a secret from them.
“I started the fire. I think I left a pot on the stove, and I forgot about it.” I couldn’t look at them in the eyes, so I closed my eyes, but Trent cupped my chin gently and made me look at him.